Green Wave softball coach predicts, 'We'll be in the hunt'

Tuesday

Mar 26, 2013 at 12:01 AMMar 26, 2013 at 9:06 PM

The Abington High softball team won its first Division 2 South Sectional title before it came within an eyelash of capturing the state crown last season. The team looked strong enough after its first scrimmage to compel coach Ernie Ortega Ortega to predict, “I know we’ll be in the hunt again."

Mike Flanagan

The Abington High softball team won its first Division 2 South Sectional title before it came within an eyelash of capturing the state crown last season.

The 1-0 state final loss to North champion Grafton was “the main course,” said coach Ernie Ortega. Now the retooled Green Wave is “ready for dessert.”

The team looked strong enough after its first scrimmage to compel Ortega to predict, “I know we’ll be in the hunt again.

“The fielding looks strong, the hitting will be strong and I think down the stretch the pitching will be as well,” Ortega said after the Green Wave scrimmaged Hanover on Monday.

The team returned a slew of key contributors to last season’s success – postseason heroes MacKenzie Gillis and Alicia Reid will helm the operation with second-year captain Stephanie Cornish. Impact position players Alex Powers, Haylee Rogers, Samantha Thompson and Victoria Chiochio also took to the field for the Green Wave on a chilly Monday.

Still, there’s no way around the gaping void left by star pitcher Kelly Norton, who graduated. The opening day starter, still yet to be determined, will be the first pitcher other than Norton to start for Abington since 2009 – a span of 65 games.

Ortega has a few options in mind of the open position, but made it clear he is not looking to replace Norton.

“It’s like asking how you replace Mariano Riviera,” Ortega said in offering a comparison to the Yankee star. “You can’t do it. Just someone who can kind of fill her shoes, yeah. But replace her, no way.”

Norton hurled more than 230 strikeouts for the Green Wave last season, the high mark in her illustrious career.

Now without Norton’s gaudy numbers, Abington will use the preseason to sort out a committee of young pitchers to split innings throughout the upcoming season.

“With three pitchers instead of one, it just adds a little bit more depth to our game,” said Ortega. “We may not get the 15 or 17 strikeouts that Kelly got us at one time, but we’ve got a good strong field behind these girls.”

Strong leadership, too. Captains Cornish, Gillis and Reid all have tournament experience and are just three of several key cogs to the Green Wave’s offensive machine.

“Each one of them, they have different strengths, different styles of leading,” Ortega said.

Cornish, who led Abington in home runs and RBI last season, “always shows up with a good attitude. She’s always been able to get the job done when I need her to.

“Alicia keeps me honest,” said Ortega. “If she sees something that needs to be questioned, she’ll question it. Down the stretch, she had one of the best bats for us last year.

“MacKenzie Gillis is a natural leader. People gravitate toward her.”

With so much veteran firepower coming back for Abington, Ortega prefers to characterize his team as “reloaded,” rather than “rebuilding” in the post-Norton era.

“Obviously, there are some things to work on. It’s still early,” said Ortega. “but I get more impressed with them every time I see them out there.”

Mike Flanagan may be reached at mflanagan@ledger.com.

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